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Some unusual Stanley Cup "Connections" |
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A couple of interesting tidbits for the SC Finals between the Philadelphia Flyers and Chicago Blackhawks:
Three teams that made hockey playoff finals in 2010 after trailing 0-3 in a series...
While the Philadelphia Flyers became just the third team in NHL history to come back from being down 0-3 in a Stanley Cup playoff series and then win it (the other two were the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1942 Finals over Detroit, and the New York Islanders in the 1975 Quarter Finals over Pittsburgh), incredibly they are also the third major junior or professional team to also do so this playoff year!! ...
Philadelphia Flyers (NHL): The Flyers, of course, made their dramatic comeback in the second round by not only defeating the Boston Bruins in seven games after dropping the first three games to the B's, they also came back from being down, 0-3, in game seven of that series just over half way through the first period of the contest before notching four unanswered goals to win that seventh game in Boston, 4-3.
Windsor Spitfires (OHL): After sweeping both the Erie Otters and Plymouth Whalers in the first two rounds of the OHL 2010 Robertson Cup playoffs, the Spitfires dropped the first three games in the Western Conference Finals to the Kitchener Rangers before sweeping the next four in the series to move on to the OHL Finals. The defending champion Spitfires then swept the Barrie Colts in four straight in the championship series to win their second consecutive J Ross Robertson Cup. (After taking the OHL playoff title the Spitfires also went on the win their second consecutive Memorial Cup as well.)
Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL): After defeating the South Carolina Stingrays and Charlotte Checkers in the first two rounds of the ECHL 2010 Kelly Cup Playoffs, the Cyclones lost the first three games of the league's American Conference Finals to the Reading Royals before taking the final four games of the best of seven series. The Cyclones then defeated the Idaho Steelheads in five games to win the 2010 Kelly Cup.
When Philadelphia defeated Chicago in the 2005 Finals ...
While this year's Stanley Cup finals is just the second time that the Philadelphia Flyers and Chicago Blackhawks have ever met in post season play since the Flyers joined the NHL in 1967, it is not the first time that pro hockey teams from these two cities have battled each other for a championship title. The Flyers and Hawks previous meeting came in 1971 when the Bobby Hull led Blackhawks swept the Flyers in four straight in a first round meeting with Hull collecting six of the Hawks' 20 goals in the series. There were, of course, no Stanley Cup playoffs at all five years ago with the NHL lockout in 2005, but there were, nonetheless, a hockey playoff finals between teams from Philadelphia and Chicago as the AHL Philadelphia Phantoms met the Chicago Wolves in a best of seven series for the Calder Cup which the Phantoms swept in four straight with the championship game being played at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia on June 10, 2005, before a SRO crowd of 20,103!
Ironically five of the players who appeared in that series (four Phantoms and one Wolve) are about to play in the 2010 Stanley Cup finals (three with the Flyers and two with the Hawks). Flyer captain Mike Richards and linemate Jeff Carter -- the top two regular seasons scorers for the Flyers this year -- were both getting their feet wet as pros that spring as they joined the Phantoms when their junior teams were eliminated from the OHL playoffs, and Carter also ended up being the leading scorer in the AHL post season with 23 points on 12 goals and 11 assists in 21 Calder Cup games while Richards contributed 15 points on 7 goals and 8 assists in just 14 games. The only member of the 2005 Chicago Wolves to also be playing in the 2010 Stanley Cup finals is current Flyer defenseman Braydon Coburn, and ironically all three were also first round draft picks in the 2003 NHL draft with Coburn being taken eighth overall by Atlanta, and Carter (11th) and Richards (24th) both being drafted by the Flyers in the same lottery.
The other two Phantoms on that 2005 Calder Cup winning team playing in the 2010 Stanley Cup finals are current Blackhawk forwards Partrick Sharp and Ben Eager. As were Carter and Richards, Sharp was a key performer for the Phantoms in their 2005 Calder Cup run with 21 points (second only to Carter) on 8 goals and 13 assists in 21 games. While Eager only had two points on a goal and an assist in 16 playoff games for the Phantoms, his 71 penalty minutes that post season were second only to Josh Gratton's 78 although Eager collected his in five fewer games than Gratton.
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